Crazy Idea or Not?

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

We got some Ti here that needs to be machined. Our Big Lathe is booked solid for 6 months. So I am trying to come up with a different way to rough these part prior to heat treat. So what I have come up with it a little off the wall. I want to take a highfeed cutter and rough mill/turn them on an Horizontal using the 4th axis. My debate is to either use the leading edge or the bottom of the highfeed cutter. I am thinking I need to place it off center so as the part is coming around into the cut it is into the strength of the cutter. Running it on the bottom will put it to the strength to the machine pushing against the spindle. Putting it to the side puts it to the strength of the cutter. I will be doing a helix motion from top to bottom.

 

Then of course there is the concern of being able to push the 4th axis fast enough to get a good chip load. I feel it got the muscle. The machine is rated to a 4000lb load and the fixture, pallet, and part only weight about 1000lb. I see Mill/Turning talked about all the time on Mill/Turns and I am thinking why not apply the same approach to a Horizontal.

 

Thought, comments, or suggestion are welcomed.

[ReDEyZZ]

How long is the part approx?

 

Could you get a long extension for the feedmill, and attack it from the top, instead of on the side.(ramp down on Z i mean) Feedmills work quite well on extended holders because all of the cutting forces are on the Z axis.

 

mabey?

[cobra95kev]

Well unfortunately I don't have the required experitse to give you any advice that wouldn't be guessing.

 

But if you do it we better get video posted on the FTP because it sounds cool and would probably pretty neat to watch.

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

Jarret it is 8" dia by 14" tall. I would then have to make up a fixture to hold it vertical. Where as this way I can keep my cutter short. I have an old 4 jaw that I am going to put 4 pins in. The part have a place for me to put 4 dowel pin in them. So each part will be held by a 4 jaws chuck and 4 pins.

[Zoober]

B Rotation speed would be my concern.

Most of my feed milling is done at about .05 feed per rev. Can you get that at the dia you will be at?

Other than that, it sounds as though you would be making a sorta VTL. So I think it would work.

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

VTL is what I wish I had I would hog the crap out these parts in no time on a VTL, but yeah Robert that what was gave me the idea more than any thing. the other thing I am thinking is I can make it and octagon then come back and take off the highs.

[ReDEyZZ]

My idea would be better suited for a vertical mill, if the length wasn't too long.

 

I have done similar work with a feedmill on a 12" extension, on a vertical.

 

I would try the leading edge of the cutter and off center like you said for try #1.

[Guest]

quote:

---

Crazy Idea or Not?

---

What else have we come to expect from "Ron Teh Crazy^Millman" except thinking outside the box.

 

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

Well the other thing is I have tons of Material to come of this part in the same operation. So it really lends itself to eliminate 3 operations by trying this approach. I got a lot of people thinking I am going to rip the part off the machine, but I have done crazier.

 

Thanks for the thinking keep them coming.

[X-L Engineering Corp]

With TI the side of the Endmill cuts better I've done both on much smaller parts and I always crashed & burned milling downward with an endmill but taking steps with the side of the endmill holds up a lot better.

 

HTH

[ReDEyZZ]

quote:

---

I want to take a highfeed cutter and rough mill/turn them on an Horizontal using the 4th axis.

---

I presume that machine does not have a 5th axis??

 

If it did you could mabey tilt the cutter and use the same method but tilt the tool at an angle starting from the top and feeding down on Y.

[Joe788]

How much material is coming off of the diameter? What kind of HMC are you going to use, and how fast is the B axis?

 

Sounds like you may be better off xxxxcanning the feedmill, and using a solid carbide endmill (for Ti of course). Start at the top of the part, at full DOC, and peel mill all the way down in a helix (like you were already planning). This way you're pretty much guaranteed to have enough B axis speed, and the endmill will be cutting on it's side.

[JDowe]

create a face toolpath in the front plane

then rotate the toolpath about the top plane

in as many angles as wanted - maybe start

with 16 sides - then go to 32 sides etc

until it is as close to round as wanted

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

How many RPM you got on the rotary table Ron? I've got an idea but I need to know this first.

[Jeremy Herron@DBS Solutions™]

I have done something similiar on an old mits horizantal. I had to turn off g61.1 to maintain a chip load and tweak d.o.c. until the machine liked, but all in all it worked pretty well. I shifted the cutter of the center so the lowest spot on the insert was tangent wit the radius I was cutting. I'm not sure if it would be applicable for you situation, but I have had alot of sucess plunge milling TI with a button cutter.

 

HTH

[gaijin_2007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49auLIg25BM

 

Maybe this might give you something to think about, certainly not that it's programmed in Esprit but the approach.

Especially the part when the tool is coming in at 90 degrees to the part (imagine the part sitting upright on your horizontal table).

As others have mentioned the limitation is going to be the RPM of the table.

 

But I've more success doing this type of thing in the past with the side of the tool rather than working on the end (which I think is what you were suggesting?)

[MultiAxGod]

It will work Ron as long as your fixtured solid. You are right, run the tool off center, cutting with the leading edge half of the tool. We used this method all the time for crankshafts and it worked great. We had a 4th axis and a slave 4th which wasn't powered.

[MultiAxGod]

I never tried the method in the video above. IT looks like it would work well too.